Hi loves!
This is a diversion from our typical content, so if you are here for gift guides and favorite products, stay tuned in the next post! Today I want to talk about an interesting encounter I had this week that truly felt like it was out of a movie. I met a woman who is a surgeon, and it brought back a flood of feelings for me, because before I started this blog nearly seven years ago, my dream was to continue in school and do exactly what she is doing. Obviously everything has changed in the years since that dream, so let’s talk about big goals and the bittersweet changes that shape who we are.
I was in line with MJ (my daughter) at the bakery we frequent, and the woman behind us was in a chatty mood. At first I politely acknowledged her, ready to dive back into scrolling my phone, but something stopped me and I am glad I indulged in her story.
She had just moved to our city, and was on her way home after a 24-hour shift at the hospital. She is a surgeon, with credentials from the TOP programs in the country, and only a few years older than I. As we nerded out together over science and surgery, I realized this woman is living the life I dreamed of ten years ago: my ‘plan A’ heading into college.
I told her how I majored in Premedical Studies and quit days before taking the MCAT. At that time, I had been blogging and creating content for about a year, in love with storytelling, and completely unsure where the future was headed.
Looking at her then looking at my daughter, I not only had the privilege of seeing a version of the future I once imagined, but I also got to experience tangible confirmation that the paths I took lead me to the right place.
While meeting this talented hardworking surgeon was so cool, I know I could not do what she does and I made the right choices for my life. She said she could not do what I do either. I would like to think we are friends now.
If you get anything out of today’s musings, I hope it is both how important our choices are, and also how beautiful life can be even if ‘plan A’ does not work out.
xx,
A